The Development Bureau announced today (September 23) that the Government has reached agreement with the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) on the in-situ land exchange for the housing development at the Siu Ho Wan Depot Site and the proposed Oyster Bay Station. This signifies that the development project will be entering the construction stage. Upon full completion, it will provide about 20 000 public and private housing units.
The 30-hectare Siu Ho Wan Depot Site is a large-scale railway maintenance depot located on the Tung Chung Line. As announced in the 2020 Policy Address, the Site had been rezoned with potential to provide about 20 000 housing units, of which around half will be subsidised sale flats. The Government's vision is to make good use of this depot site through comprehensive planning to develop a new community with public and private housing, a shopping arcade, community facilities and a waterfront promenade. In support of this development, the MTRCL will also construct a new railway station, Oyster Bay Station, on the Tung Chung Line.
A spokesman for the Development Bureau said, "The Government and the MTRCL have been working at full steam to take forward this project. The various development procedures have been carried out concurrently, including the preparation of the layout plan for seeking planning permission, gazettal of road works, gazettal of the railway scheme, detailed design, and handling the in-situ land exchange required for the development and the Project Agreement for Oyster Bay Station. After two years of hard work, the preparatory work for the project is near completion. The Lands Department will execute the land exchange documents with the MTRCL shortly, and the MTRCL will arrange to dispose of the first development package by tender as early as possible within this financial year."
The development of the Siu Ho Wan Depot Site involves the MTRCL's in-situ revamp of the depot layout to allow construction of a deck over the depot and the development of private residential buildings and related facilities atop, and timely handover of the land parcels for public housing to the Hong Kong Housing Authority for constructing public residential buildings. The project is a challenging one, as the depot conversion works and topside development will proceed in parallel, and in the process, normal railway operations will have to be maintained throughout. As the depot will be converted in stages, the housing development project will be completed in four phases. Phase 1 with a total of around 6 000 public and private housing units is expected to be gradually completed with population intake from 2030 to 2032. The new railway station is expected to complete construction and be ready for commissioning in 2030 to cater for the first population intake.
The spokesman continued, "The Siu Ho Wan Depot Site development demonstrates the Government's determination in creating more land. We will continue to adopt a multi-pronged approach to find land from diversified sources to increase land and housing supply."
Under the original lease of the Siu Ho Wan Depot Site granted to the MTRCL, the lease conditions only permit the land to be used for railway maintenance depot. Inclusion of residential and related uses requires lease modification. The MTRCL applied to the Government for lease modification by way of an in-situ land exchange (i.e. surrender and regrant of land), and is required to pay land premium to the Government at full market value. The land premium amount is assessed in accordance with the established mechanism applicable to lease modifications in general, taking into account the land use before and after the modification and the costs for development (as far as this project is concerned, these include the costs of depot conversion, construction of the railway station and other property-enabling works).
The Transport and Logistics Bureau signed the Project Agreement with the MTRCL to take forward the proposed Oyster Bay Station through the "ownership approach", under which the MTRCL will be responsible for the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the railway station.
The MTRCL has accepted the binding basic terms offer issued by the Lands Department for the in-situ land exchange. It is expected that the formalities for the execution of the lease modification documents will be completed within a few months. Upon registration of the relevant documents at the Land Registry, the land transaction record will also be uploaded to the webpage of the Lands Department for public inspection of the details, including the land premium amount.
Ends/Friday, September 23, 2022
Issued at HKT 16:58
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